Did the Apostles Believe Jesus is God?

Were the eyewitnesses, who heard Jesus’ words and saw his miraculous deeds, convinced that he is equal in every way with his Father? Or did they think that Jesus was merely a higher created being or a great prophet like Moses?

To sort out truth from fiction, we need to go back to the words of the apostles who were there when Jesus walked the earth and wrote their testimonies of what they saw and heard. We also want to examine what the early church fathers believed and taught since several of them knew and heard the apostles teach.

The Eyewitnesses

Jesus spent three years with his disciples, teaching them about God and explaining to them the deep truths of God’s Word. During those three years, Jesus performed numerous miracles, made audacious claims, and lived a righteous life. After his resurrection, these eyewitnesses wrote down many of Jesus’ words and deeds.

Simon Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples, wrote of Jesus’ glory after his resurrection:

We saw it with our own eyes: Jesus resplendent with light from God the Father…. We couldn’t be more sure of what we saw and heard—God’s glory, God’s voice (2 Peter 1:16-17, The Message).

But does the fact that the apostles saw God’s glory and heard God’s voice through Jesus mean that they regarded him as God? New Testament scholar A. H. McNeile explains,

…no sooner had the Life of Jesus ended in apparent failure and shame than the great body of Christians—not an individual here and there, but the mass of the Church—passed over at once to the fixed belief that He was God.¹

Those who deny Jesus’ deity say that the apostles taught that Jesus is God’s supreme creation, and that the Father alone is the eternal God. So, to clarify their beliefs about Jesus, we will examine their words, asking three essential questions: